Shannon Pleads For More Major Fights Like Froch-Groves

By Shaun Brown

Veteran boxing trainer, Bob Shannon, has put out an impassionate plea to promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren to continue rolling out the big fights in Britain after this Saturday’s rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves at Wembley Stadium in London.

The bout, which is expected to be in front of a record 80,000 crowd, will be for Froch’s IBF and WBA super middleweight titles once again after their first fight ended controversially last Nov in the ninth round with referee, Howard Foster deciding that Groves was in no position to continue.

Shannon, who has trained the likes of Ricky and Matthew Hatton, can’t wait for the opening bell on Sat night but hopes that these type of match-ups don’t vanish into thin air after the dust has settled.

“These are the Benn-Eubank fights that everyone wants and raves about. This is what boxing’s about. I’m talking to people that don’t usually watch boxing. It’s like going back to the 80s when boxing was great. This is what the likes of Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren need to do all time. A benchmark has been set with these two fights. Please Eddie, please Frank, keep this going and keep the momentum going. Put these lads in, don’t keep hiding them. Get them in and get boxing where it belongs. We want this. This fight has brought boxing up again.

“People have said to me ‘Yeah it’s a great fight but what about next week and the week after’? There’s some great fights out there with the likes of Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg. We want them to meet now and get it on and get some excitement back in boxing instead of all the politics! This fight is great for boxing. Don’t make this a one-off, make them happen all the time!”